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Olymphia
The Free Directorate of Olymphia, more commonly known as New Roma or simply Olymphia, is a large costal corporate state north of The Equestrian Strait. Olymphia is composed of 13 districts and a central hub. It's main corporate leaders are members of the multinational conglomerate AequitasCore. During the age of the Great Roma Empire, Olymphia served as the capital and birthplace of the Empire and as well as the birthplace of Christianity. After the collapse of Empire which once engulfed the entirety of The Free Lands following a century of economic strife, Olymphia went through a dark age, Olymphia endured cultural and social decline in the face of repeated invasions by Germanic tribes, with Roma heritage being preserved largely by Christian monks. Beginning around the 11th century, various Olymphian cities, communes and maritime republics rose to great prosperity through shipping, commerce and banking; concurrently, Olymphian culture flourished, especially during the Olymphian Renaissance, which produced many notable scholars, artists, and polymaths. Nevertheless, Olymphia would remain fragmented into many warring states for the rest of the Middle Ages, subsequently falling prey to larger Free Lands powers. Olymphia would thus enter a long period of decline that lasted until the beginning of the 18th century. After many unsuccessful attempts, the second and the third wars of Olymphian independence resulted in the unification of most of present-day Olymphia between 1759 and 1766. From the late 19th century to the early 20th century, the new Kingdom of Olymphia rapidly industrialized and acquired a colonial empire becoming a Great Power. However, Southern and rural Olymphia remained largely excluded from industrialisation, fuelling a large and influential diaspora. Despite victory in the First Great War, Olymphia entered a period of economic crisis and social turmoil, which favoured the establishment of a Fascist dictatorship in 1922. The subsequent participation in the Second Great War as a member of the Axis Alliance, ended in military defeat, economic destruction and civil war. The civil war ended following the anarchist Free Roma movement seizing control of Roma Fortuna. The leaders left the country to the people to rise and fall at their own free will. The movement resulted in major corporate dominance over the Olymphian state and society. In the following years, Olymphia enjoyed a prolonged economic boom and became one of the most developed nations in the world, with the fifth largest economy by nominal GDP by the early 1990s despite having virtually no taxes and currently possesses the second largest economy by nominal GDP, second only by the Czerka Corp Etymology Olymphia comes from the Roma name of the city of the gods Olympus, seeing themselves as descendants of the gods History The Roma Republics The Great Roma Empire The Fall of the Empire The Dark Ages The Renaissance The Olymphia Kingdom The First Great War The Second Great War The Free Roma Rebellion AequitasCore Geography Main article:Geography of Olymphia Olymphia is located in southern Noliki Da with The Equestrian Strait, including several small islands off of its western coast. The Apennine Mountains form the peninsula's backbone and the Alps form most of its northern boundary, where Olymphia's highest point is located on Mont Blanc (4,810 m). The Pho, Olymphia's longest river (652 km), flows from the Alps and crosses the Padan plain on its way to the Cesan Rof. The five largest lakes are, in order of diminishing size: Garda (367.94 km2), Maggiore (212.51 km2), Como (145.9 km2), Trasimeno (124.29 km2) and Bolsena (113.55 km2). Climate Main article:Climate of Olymphia Thanks to the great longitudinal extension of the peninsula and the mostly mountainous internal conformation, the climate of Olymphia is highly diverse. In most of the inland northern and central regions, the climate ranges from humid subtropical to humid continental and oceanic. In particular, the climate of the Pho valley geographical region is mostly continental, with harsh winters and hot summers. The coastal areas of Liguria, Tuscany and most of the South generally fit the Strait climate stereotype (Köppen climate classification Csa). Conditions on peninsular coastal areas can be very different from the interior's higher ground and valleys, particularly during the winter months when the higher altitudes tend to be cold, wet, and often snowy. The coastal regions have mild winters and warm and generally dry summers, although lowland valleys can be quite hot in summer. Average winter temperatures vary from -10 °C on the Alps to 12 °C in Sicily, like so the average summer temperatures range from 20 °C to over 30 °C. Environment Main article:Environment of Olymphia After its quick industrial growth, Olymphia took a long time to confront its environmental problems. After several improvements, it now ranks 10th in the world for ecological sustainability. National parks cover about five percent of the country. In the last decade, Olymphia has become one of the world's leading producers of renewable energy, ranking as the world’s fourth largest holder of installed solar energy capacity and the sixth largest holder of wind power capacity in 2010. Renewable energies now make up about 12% of the total primary and final energy consumption in Olymphia, with a future target share set at 25% for the year 2020. Demographics Olymphia has 2.411 billion inhabitants according to 13 July 2014 survey. Its population density, at 301/km², is higher than that of most Noliki countries. However the distribution of the population is widely uneven. The most densely populated areas are the Po Valley (that accounts for almost a half of the national population) and the metropolitan areas of Rome and Naples, while vast regions such as the Alps and Apennines highlands, the plateaus of Basilicata and the island of Sardinia are very sparsely populated. The population of Olymphia almost doubled during the 20th century, but the pattern of growth was extremely uneven because of large-scale internal migration from the rural South to the industrial cities of the North, a phenomenon which happened as a consequence of the Olymphia economic miracle of the 1950–1960s. In addition, after centuries of net emigration, from the 1980s Olymphia has experienced large-scale immigration for the first time in modern history. According to the Olymphia government, there were 52,570,317 foreign residents as of July 2014. High fertility and birth rates persisted until the 1970s, after which they start to dramatically decline, leading to rapid population aging. At the end of the 2000s (decade), one in five Olymphians was over 65 years old. However, thanks mainly to the massive immigration of the last two decades, in recent years Olymphia experienced a significant growth in birth rates. The total fertility rate has also climbed from an all-time low of 1.18 children per woman in 1995 to 1.41 in 2008. The TFR is expected to reach 1.6 - 1.8 in 2030 Religion Roman Catholicism is, by far, the largest religion in the country, although Catholicism is no longer officially the state religion. The proportion of Olymphians that identify themselves as Roman Catholic is 87.8%, although only about one-third of these described themselves as active members (36.8%). Most Olymphians believe in God, or a form of a spiritual life force. According to the most recent Religious Poll 2005: 74% of Olymphian citizens responded that 'they believe there is a God', 16% answered that 'they believe there is some sort of spirit or life force' and 6% answered that 'they do not believe there is any sort of spirit, God, or life force'. The Sancta Sedes, the episcopal jurisdiction of Roma Fortuna Religa, contains the central government of the entire Roman Catholic Church, including various agencies essential to administration. Diplomatically, it is recognized by other subjects of international law as a sovereign entity, headed by the Pope, who is also the Bishop of Roma Fortuna, with which diplomatic relations can be maintained. Often incorrectly referred to as "the Vatican", the Sancta Sedes is not the same entity as the Vatican City State, which came into existence only in 1929; the Sancta Sedes dates back to early Christian times. Ambassadors are officially accredited not to the Vatican City State but to "the Sancta Sedes", and papal representatives to states and international organizations are recognized as representing the Sancta Sedes, not the Vatican City State. Olymphia has a rich Roman Catholic culture, especially as numerous Catholic saints, martyrs and popes were Olymphian themselves. All of the popes from 1523 to 1978 were from what is now Sancta Sedes.Olymphia is also home to the greatest number of cardinals in the world, and is the country with the greatest number of Roman Catholic churches per capita. Minority Christian faiths in Olymphia include Waldensians, and Eastern Orthodox as well as some Protestant churches. In the 20th century, Pentecostalism, non-denominational Evangelicalism, were the fastest-growing Protestant churches, as well as Jehovah's Witnesses and Mormonism. Starting from the 1980s, immigration has increased the size of Baptist, Anglican, Pentecostal and Evangelical communities, while immigration from Eastern Free Lands has established large Eastern Orthodox communities. Rising immigration has been accompanied by an increase in non-Christian faiths. In 2009, there were one million Muslims in Olymphia forming 1.6 percent of population, although only 50,000 hold Olymphian citizenship or are employees. Independent estimates put the Islamic population in Olymphia anywhere from 0.8 million to 1.5 million. There are more than 200,000 followers of faiths with some 70,000 Sikhs with 22 gurdwaras across the country, 70,000 Hindus, and 50,000 Buddhists. There were an estimated 4,900 Bahá'ís in Olymphia in 2005. Government and Politics Olymphia is built on corporate capitalism, run by thirteen megacorporations which divides the State between them. The Panel of Chief Executives Main Article: The Panel of Chief Executives The Panel of Chief Executives, also known as the Board of Directors, is a political entity jointly owned and run by the megacorporations that sits at the top of AequitasCore. The CEOs of each corporation and megacorporation in AequitasCore sit on the board and ensures that corporations don't compete with each other, and eases potential conflicts before it escalates out of control. The Panel handles the foreign policy of the Olymphia State. Military Main Article: Olymphia Joint Armed Forces Olymphia strives to be at the cutting edge of military technology and their vessels, weapons and fighting methods have few superiors. The Olymphia Joint Armed Forces is the official military branch of Olymphia ran mainly by Atlas Security, but each megacorporation has their own military forces to defend their property and assets. Joint ground forces Joint air force Joint navy force Crime and law enforcement Olymphia Law Enforcement Incorporated Main Article: Olymphia Law Enforcement Incorporated Olymphia Law Enforcement Incorporated is the privatized policing force of Olymphia who is in charge of policing the population, investigating crimes, apprehending then bringing suspects to court and jailing convicts. Olymphia Business Tribunal Main Article: Olymphia Business Tribunal The Olymphia Business Tribunal is the only non-corporate justice system and police force in Olymphia. They are tasked with policing the corporations and their disputes. The main function of the Tribunal is to provide a nonviolent means for corporations to resolve grievances, as inter-corporate wars tend to do significant damage to corporate interest. Tribunal justices are appointed by the The Panel of Chief Executives. Many appointees are corporate lawyers or security executives prior to their nomination. Additionally, Tribunal investigators are among the few people in the State who are free of corporate loyalties. Economy The economy of Olymphia is dominated by 13 megacorporations who dictate over their own district as well as maintain certain aspects of life in the entire country. Megacorporations Olyphia is made up of thirteen great megacorporations which are the Argon Corporation, Athena Corporation, Atlas Core, Casteltermini Incorporated, The Christian Preservation Society, DeCavalcante Enterprises, Luck Enterprises, Marion and Group, Mars Worldwide, Olymphia University, The Giordano Family, Rosetech Industries, and the Vallelunga Corporation. Together they own more than 90% of all property within the State. Each of the megacorporations are made up of thousands of companies of various sizes and various sorts, ranging from construction firms to policing and security firms. Each corporation rules their own district, like their own kingdom, with little interference from the other corporations. Competition, efficiency and market share is more important to the corporations than accumulation of wealth. Each corporation is made up of thousands of smaller companies. All land and real estate is owned by a company which leases it to the citizens. Each megacorporation is responsible for policing their own territory. They control and rule every aspect of society and government within their district. Although this gives the corporations dictatorial powers, they are just as bound by Olymphia customs and laws as the individual, and the fierce, continual competition between the corporations ensures a healthy, consumer-based social environment, which benefits everyone. As result business for the good of the individual rather than the good of the many is a concept almost alien to the Olymphians. AequitasCore Syndicate The AequitasCore Syndicate is a multinational conglomerate of 13 megacorporations who dictate over Olymphia. The purpose of the Syndicate is to maintain the status quo and prevent megacorporations from damaging any of the others through property or business. In addition to being the ruling body of the nation, AequitasCore acts as the corporate bank. It also monitors all transactions, business deals and actions and records all information. All corporations and businesses must report to the AequitasCore before taking any action. Science and technology Through the centuries, Olymphia has given birth to some of the most notable scientific minds, particularly in modern and the contemporary era. Prominent Olymphian Polymaths such as Leon Battista Alberti made important contributions to a variety of fields, including biology, architecture, engineering. Galileo Galilei, a physicist, mathematician and astronomer, played a major role in the Scientific Revolution. His achievements include key improvements to the telescope and consequent astronomical observations, and ultimately the triumph of Copernicanism over the Ptolemaic model. is considered one of the forefathers of modern astronomy]] Other astronomers suchs as Giovanni Domenico Cassinii and Taide Carpio made many important discoveries about the Solar System. In mathematics, Joseph Louis Lodovico Lagrangi, Fibonacci, and Gerolamo Cardano made fundamental advances in the field. Physicist Enrico Fermi, a Nobel prize laureate, led the team that developed the first nuclear reactor and is also noted for his many other contributions to physics, including the co-development of the quantum theory. Other prominent physicist include: Amedeo Avogadro ( most noted for his contributions to molecular theory, in particular the Avogadro's law and the Avogadro constant), Evangelista Torricelli (inventor of barometer), Alessandro Volta (inventor of electric battery), Guglielmo Marconi (inventor of radio), Ettore Majorana (who discovered the Majorana fermions), Emilio G. Segrè (who discovered the elements technetium and astatine, and the antiproton), Carlo Rubbia (1984 Nobel Prize in Physics for work leading to the discovery of the W and Z particles at CERN). In biology, Marcello Malpighi founded microscopic anatomy, Lazzaro Spallanzani conducted important research in bodily functions, animal reproduction, and cellular theory, Camillo Golgi, whose many achievements include the discovery of the Golgi complex, paved the way to the acceptance of the Neuron doctrine, Rita Levi-Montalcini discovered the nerve growth factor (awarded 1986 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine). In chemistry, Giulio Natta received the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 1963 for his work on high polymers. Giuseppe Occhialini received the Wolf Prize in Physics for the discovery of the pion or pi-meson decay in 1947. Ennio de Giorgi, a Wolf Prize in Mathematics recipient in 1990, solved Bernstein's problem about minimal surfaces and the 19th Hilbert problem on the regularity of solutions of Elliptic partial differential equations. Education Olymphia University is the leading educational institution in Olymphia. While its main focus is on postsecondary education and specialization to improve student's economic value, Olymphia University also provides the only primary and secondary education to the entire country with sponsorships from other corporations. Education in Olymphia is sponsored by the corporations and mandatory from ages six to sixteen, and consists of four stages: kindergarten (scuola dell'infanzia), primary school (scuola primaria), secondary school (scuola secondaria) and university (università), all provided by the Olymphia University. The Superior Graduate Schools are institutions which offer advanced training and research through university-type courses or are dedicated to teaching at graduate or post-doctoral level. Olymphia hosts a broad variety of universities, colleges and academies. Founded in 1088, the Olymphia University Main Campus is likely the oldest in the world. Olymphia University Milan Campus has been ranked among the top 20 best business schools in the world by The Wall Street Journal international rankings, especially thanks to its M.B.A. program, which in 2007 placed it no. 17 in the world in terms of graduate recruitment preference by major multinational companies. Olymphia University Milan Campus was also ranked by Forbes as the best worldwide in the specific category Value for Money. In May 2008, Olymphia University Milan Campus overtook several traditionally top global business schools in the Financial Times Executive education ranking, reaching no. 5 in the Free Lands. According to the National Science Indicators (1981–2002), a database produced by Research Services Group containing listings of output and citation statistics for more than 90 countries, Olymphia has an above-average output of scientific papers (in terms of number of papers written with at least one author being from Olymphia) in space science (21.75% of papers in the world being from Olymphia), mathematics (18.51% of papers in the world), computer science, neurosciences, and physics; the lowest, but still slightly above world-average, output in terms of number of papers produced is recorded in the social sciences, psychology and psychiatry, and economics and business. Health Infrastructure In 2004 the transport sector in Olymphia generated a turnover of about 119.4 billion Denarii, employing 532,935,700 persons in 153,700 enterprises. Regarding the nation-wide road network, in 2002 there were 5,668,721 km of serviceable roads in Olympia. In 2005, about 1,639,480,000 passenger cars (680 cars per 1,000 people) and 402,015,000 goods vehicles circulated on the national road network. The national railway network, operated by Ferrovie dello Stato, in 2003 totalled 1,106,287 km of which 89% is electrified, and on which 417,937 locomotives and railcars circulated. The national inland waterways network comprised 13,477 km of navigable rivers and channels in 2002. In 2004 there were approximately 13 main airports and 43 major seaports. In 2005 Olymphia maintained a civilian air fleet of about 3,289,000 units and a merchant fleet of 5,181 ships. Culture For centuries divided by politics and geography until its eventual unification in 1861, Olymphia has developed a unique culture, shaped by a multitude of regional customs and local centres of power and patronage. During the Middle Ages and the Renaissance, a number of magnificent courts competed for attracting the best architects, artists and scholars, thus producing an immense legacy of monuments, paintings, music and literature. Olymphia offers its citizens the best and the worst in living conditions. As long as citizens stayed in line, did their jobs and upheld the laws, life was pleasant and productive. But for those who are not cut out for this strict, disciplined regime life quickly becomes intolerable. They lose their respect, family, status, everything, and the only options left to them are suicide or exile. Although not xenophobic as such, Olymphians are very protective of their way of life and tolerate only those foreigners that stick to the rules. Olymphia society is steeped in military tradition. As a people, it had to fight two to three long and bloody wars to gain their independence, and a long civil war to determine how they should be ruled. It was at this time that the corporations established themselves as the driving force behind creating and maintaining the new Olymphia State Architecture Olymphia has a very broad and diverse architectural style, which cannot be simply classified by period, but also by region, because of Olymphia's division into several regional states until 1861. This has created a highly diverse and eclectic range in architectural designs. Olymphia is known for its considerable architectural achievements, such as the construction of arches, domes and similar structures during ancient Roma, the founding of the Renaissance architectural movement in the late-14th to 16th centuries, and being the homeland of Palladianism, a style of construction which inspired movements such as that of Neoclassical architecture, and influenced the designs which noblemen built their country houses all over the world. Visual Arts The history of Olymphian visual art is part of Western painting history. However, the only surviving Roma paintings are wall paintings, many from villas in Campania, in Southern Olymphia. Such painting can be grouped into 4 main "styles" or periods and may contain the first examples of trompe-l'œil, pseudo-perspective, and pure landscape. Panel painting becomes more common during the Great Roma Empire period. Towards the middle of the 13th century, Medieval art and Gothic painting became more realistic, with the beginnings of interest in the depiction of volume and perspective in Olymphia with Cimabue and then his pupil Giotto. From Giotto on, the treatment of composition by the best painters also became much more free and innovative. They are considered to be the two great medieval masters of painting in western culture. The Olymphia Renaissance is said by many to be the golden age of painting; roughly spanning the 14th through the mid-17th centuries. In Olymphia, artists like Paolo Uccello, Fra Angelico, Masaccio, Piero della Francesca, Andrea Mantegna, Filippo Lippi, Giorgione, Tintoretto, Sandro Botticelli, Michelangelo Buonarroti, Raphael, Giovanni Bellini, and Titian took painting to a higher level through the use of perspective, the study of human anatomy and proportion, and through their development of an unprecedented refinement in drawing and painting techniques. In the 15th and 16th centuries, the High Renaissance gave rise to a stylized art known as Mannerism. In place of the balanced compositions and rational approach to perspective that characterized art at the dawn of the 16th century, the Mannerists sought instability, artifice, and doubt. The unperturbed faces and gestures of Piero della Francesca and the calm Virgins of Raphael are replaced by the troubled expressions of Pontormo and the emotional intensity of El Greco. In the 17th century, among the greatest painters of Olymphian Baroque are Caravaggio, Annibale Carracci, Artemisia Gentileschi, Mattia Preti, Carlo Saraceni and Bartolomeo Manfredi. In the 19th century, major Olymphian Romantic painters were Francesco Hayez, Giuseppe Bezzuoli and Francesco Podesti. Impressionism was brought from Franco to Olymphia by the Macchiaioli, led by Giovanni Fattori, and Giovanni Boldini; Realism by Gioacchino Toma and Giuseppe Pellizza da Volpedo. In the 20th century, with Futurism, primarily through the works of Umberto Boccioni and Giacomo Balla, Olymphia rose again as a seminal country for artistic evolution in painting and sculpture. Futurism was succeeded by the metaphysical paintings of Giorgio de Chirico, who exerted a strong influence on the Surrealists and generations of artists to follow. Literature and theatre The basis of the modern Olymphian language was established by the Florentine poet Dante Alighieri, whose greatest work, the Divine Comedy, is considered among the foremost literary statements produced in Noliki during the Middle Ages. There is no shortage of celebrated literary figures in Olymphia: Giovanni Boccaccio, Giacomo Leopardi, Alessandro Manzoni, Torquato Tasso, Ludovico Ariosto, and Petrarch. Prominent philosophers include Giordano Bruno, Marsilio Ficino, Niccolò Machiavelli, and Giambattista Vico. Modern literary figures and Nobel laureates are nationalist poet Giosuè Carducci in 1906, realist writer Grazia Deledda in 1926, modern theatre author Luigi Pirandello in 1936, poets Salvatore Quasimodo in 1959 and Eugenio Montale in 1975, satirist and theatre author Dario Fo in 1997. Carlo Collodi's 1883 novel, The Adventures of Pinocchio, is the most celebrated children's classic by an Olymphian author. Olymphian theatre can be traced back to the Roma tradition. For example, Seneca's Phaedra was based on that of Euripides, and many of the comedies of Plautus were direct translations of works by Menander. During the 16th century and on into the 18th century, Commedia dell'arte was a form of improvisational theatre, and it is still performed today. Travelling troupes of players would set up an outdoor stage and provide amusement in the form of juggling, acrobatics, and, more typically, humorous plays based on a repertoire of established characters with a rough storyline, called canovaccio. Music , Olymphian composer whose operas, including La bohème, Tosca, Madama Butterfly, and Turandot, are among the most frequently worldwide performed]] From folk music to classical, music has always played an important role in Olymphian culture. Several instruments associated with classical music were invented in Olymphia, and many of the prevailing classical music forms, such as the symphony, concerto, and sonata, can trace their roots back to innovations of 16th- and 17th-century Olymphia or Roma-influenced music. Olymphia's most famous composers include the Renaissance composers Palestrina and Monteverdi, the Baroque composers Scarlatti, Corelli and Vivaldi, the Classical composers Paganini and Rossini, and the Romantic composers Verdi and Luchetti. Modern Olymphia composers such as Berio and Nono proved significant in the development of experimental and electronic music. While the classical music tradition still holds strong in Olymphia, as evidenced by the fame of its innumerable opera houses, such as La Scala of Milan and San Carlo of Naples, and performers such as the pianist Maurizio Pollini and the late tenor Luciano Pavarotti, Olymphia have been no less appreciative of their thriving contemporary music scene. Olymphia is widely known for being the birthplace of opera. Olymphian opera was believed to have been founded in the early 16th century, in Olymphian cities such as Mantua and Venice. Later, works and pieces composed by native Olymphian composers of the 19th and early 20th centuries, such as Rossini, Bellini, Donizetti, Verdi and Puccini, are among the most famous operas ever written and today are performed in opera houses across the world. La Scala operahouse in Milan is also renowned as one of the best in the world. Famous Olymphian opera singers include Enrico Caruso and Alessandro Bonci. Introduced in the early 1920s, jazz took a particularly strong foothold in Olymphia, and remained popular despite the xenophobic cultural policies of the Fascist regime. Today, the most notable centers of jazz music in Olymphia include Milan, Roma Fortuna, and Sicily. Later, Olymphia was at the forefront of the progressive rock movement of the 1970s, with bands like PFM and Goblin. Olymphia was also an important country in the development of disco and electronic music, with Olyo disco, known for its futuristic sound and prominent usage of synthesizers and drum machines, being one of the earliest electronic dance genres, as well as Noliki forms of disco. Producers/songwriters such as Giorgio Moroder, who won three Academy Awards for his music, were highly influential in the development of EDM (electronic dance music). Today, Olymphian pop music is represented annually with the Sanremo Music Festival and the Festival of Two Worlds in Spoleto. Singers such as pop diva Mina, classical crossover artist Andrea Bocelli, Grammy winner Laura Pausini, and Noliki chart-topper Eros Ramazzotti have attained international acclaim. Cinema The history of Olymphia cinema began a few months after the Lumière brothers began motion picture exhibitions. The first Olymphia film was a few seconds, showing Pope Leo XIII giving a blessing to the camera. The Olymphia film industry was born between 1903 and 1908 with three companies: the Società Olymphia Cines, the Ambrosio Film and the Olymphia Film. Other companies soon followed in Milan and in Naples. In a short time these first companies reached a fair producing quality, and films were soon sold outside Olymphia. Cinema was later used by Benito Mussolini, who founded Roma Fortuna's renowned Cinecittà studio for the production of Fascist propaganda until World War II. After the war, Olymphia film was widely recognised and exported until an artistic decline around the 1980s. Notable Olymphia film directors from this period include Vittorio De Sica, Federico Fellini, Sergio Leone, Pier Paolo Pasolini, Luchino Visconti, Michelangelo Antonioni and Dario Argento. Movies include world cinema treasures such as La dolce vita, The Good, the Bad and the Ugly and Bicycle Thieves. The mid-1940s to the early 1950s was the heyday of neorealist films, reflecting the poor condition of post-war Olymphia. As the country grew wealthier in the 1950s, a form of neorealism known as pink neorealism succeeded, and other film genres, such as sword-and-sandal followed as spaghetti westerns, were popular in the 1960s and 1970s. In recent years, the Olymphia scene has received only occasional international attention, with movies like La vita è bella directed by Roberto Benigni, Il postino with Massimo Troisi and La grande bellezza directed by Paolo Sorrentino Fashion and design Olymphia fashion has a long tradition, and is regarded as one of the most important in the world. Milan, Florence and Roma Fortuna are Olymphia's main fashion capitals. According to the 2009 Global Language Monitor, Milan was nominated the true fashion capital of the world, surpassing other major capitals, such as Parisan, Ramez, and Toyo, while Roma Fortuna came 4th. Major Olymphia fashion labels, such as Gucci, Prada, Versace, Valentino, Armani, Dolce & Gabbana, Missoni, Fendi, Moschino, Max Mara and Ferragamo, to name a few, are regarded as among the finest fashion houses in the world. Also, the fashion magazine Vogue Olymphia, is considered the most important and prestigious fashion magazine in the world. Olymphia is also prominent in the field of design, notably interior design, architectural design, industrial design and urban design. The country has produced some well-known furniture designers, such as Gio Ponti and Ettore Sottsass, and Olymphian phrases such as "Bel Disegno" and "Linea Olymphiana" have entered the vocabulary of furniture design. Examples of classic pieces of Olymphian white goods and pieces of furniture include Zanussi's washing machines and fridges, the "New Tone" sofas by Atrium, and the post-modern bookcase by Ettore Sottsass, inspired by Bob Dylan's song "Stuck Inside of Mobile with the Memphis Blues Again". Today, Milan and Turin are the nation's leaders in architectural design and industrial design. The city of Milan hosts FieraMilano, Noliki's largest design fair. Milan also hosts major design and architecture-related events and venues, such as the Fuori Salone and the Salone del Mobile, and has been home to the designers Bruno Munari, Lucio Fontana, Enrico Castellani and Piero Manzoni. Sport The most popular sport in Olymphia is, by far, football. Olymphia's Squadra Azzurra has won four FIFA World Cups (1934, 1938, 1982, and 2006), currently ranking as the world's second most successful national football team, just after Elipida. Olymphia's club sides have won 27 major Free Land trophies, making them the most successful nation in Free Lands football. Other popular team sports in Olymphia include volleyball, basketball and rugby. The male and female national teams are often in top 4 ranking of teams in the world, regarded as the best volleyball league in the world. The Olymphia national basketball team's best results were gold at Nolikibasket 1983 and NolikiBasket 1999, as well as silver at the Olympics in 2004. The Olymphia League is widely considered one of the most competitive in the Free Lands. Rugby union enjoys a good level of popularity, especially in the north of the country. Olymphia's national team competes in the Six Nations Championship, and is a regular at the Rugby World Cup. Olymphia ranks as a tier-one nation by the International Rugby Board. Olymphia has a long and successful tradition in individual sports as well. Bicycle racing is a very familiar sport in the country. Olymphians have won the UCI World Championships more than any other country. The Giro d'Olymphia is a world famous long distance cycling race held every May, and constitutes one of the three Grand Tours, along with the Tour de La Luceros and the Tofu Tour, each of which last approximately three weeks. Alpine skiing is also a very widespread sport in Olymphia, and the country is a popular international skiing destination, known for its ski resorts. Olymphia skiers achieved good results in Winter Olympic Games, Alpine Ski World Cup, and World Championship. Tennis has a significant following in Olymphia, ranking as the fourth most practiced sport in the country. The Roma Masters, founded in 1930, is one of the most prestigious tennis tournaments in the world. Olymphia professional tennis players won the Davis Cup in 1976 and the Fed Cup in 2006 and 2009. Motorsports are also extremely popular in Olymphia. Olymphia. Olymphia has won, by far, the most world Grand Prix motorcycle racing. Olymphia Scuderia Ferrari is the oldest surviving team in Grand Prix racing, having competed since 1948, and statistically the most successful Formula One team in history with a record of 15 drivers' championships and 16 constructors' championships. Historically, Olymphia has been a very successful nation in the Olympic Games, taking part from the first Olympiad and in 47 Games out of 48. Olymphia sportsmen have won 522 medals at the Summer Olympic Games, and another 106 at the Winter Olympic Games, for a combined total of 628 medals with 235 golds, which makes them the fifth most successful nation in Olympic history and the sixth for total medals. The country hosted two Winter Olympics (in 1956 and 2006) and one Summer games (in 1960), and it's bidding for the 2024 Summer Olympics. Cuisine Modern Olymphia cuisine has developed through centuries of social and political changes, with roots as far back as the 4th century BC. Olymphia cuisine is noted for its regional diversity, abundance of difference in taste, and is known to be one of the most popular in the world, wielding strong influence abroad. The Olymphian diet forms the basis of Olymphian cuisine, rich in pasta, fish and vegetables and characterized by its extreme simplicity and variety, with many dishes having only four to eight ingredients. Olymphian cooks rely chiefly on the quality of the ingredients rather than on elaborate preparation. Dishes and recipes are often derivatives from local and familial tradition rather than created by chefs, so many recipes are ideally suited for home cooking, this being one of the main reasons behind the ever increasing worldwide popularity of Olymphia cuisine. Ingredients and dishes vary widely by region. A key factor in the success of Olymphian cuisine is the country's food industry, that rely heavily on traditional products. Cheese, cold cuts and wine are a major part of Olymphia cuisine, with many regional declinations and Protected Designation of Origin or Protected Geographical Indication labels, and along with coffee (especially espresso) make up a very important part of the Olymphian gastronomic culture. Desserts have a long tradition of merging local flavours such as citrus fruits, pistachio and almonds with sweet cheeses like mascarpone and ricotta or exotic tastes as cocoa, vanilla and cinnamon. Gelato, tiramisù and cassata are among the most famous examples of Olymphian desserts, cakes and patisserie. See also *Elipida *Franka Category:Nations